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The seventh test flight of the most powerful and heaviest rocket in history, the Starship, has failed. This was announced by SpaceX on Thursday, 16 January, according to DW.
The rocket was launched from the Boca Chica Cosmodrome in Texas. The first reusable Super Heavy stage successfully placed the spacecraft into orbit, after which it returned to Earth and landed on the launch pad. The upper stage separated and activated all six Raptor engines, but then lost contact with the spacecraft, causing it to crash.
“After separation, the upper stage of the Starship successfully fired all six Raptor engines and was preparing for further reentry. However, about 8.5 minutes into the flight, telemetry was lost. Initial data indicate that a fire broke out in the rear of the ship, which led to its uncontrolled destruction, followed by the fall of debris into the Atlantic Ocean,” SpaceX said.
Elon Musk, the company’s chairman, said that the incident could have been caused by a large oxygen/fuel leak in the space above the ship’s engine firewall. He also said that the company will take additional safety measures, including improving fire extinguishing systems and expanding the area of ventilation holes.
Starship is the largest rocket in history, designed to deliver people and cargo to orbit, the Moon and Mars. The total payload of the system is 150 tonnes. The reusable system consists of a 70-metre-long Super Heavy first stage and a 50-metre-long Starship spacecraft with additional engines.
